Any tips for UK Train Travel for a first time American?

I'm about to book a one way train trip from London to Edinburgh for May 7th.
I'm using the www.nationalrail.co.uk web site. There seem to be no direct
trains available on this day. And there seems to be a lot of different fares.

This is our first time on a UK train trip. So we're looking for some tips.

Do we just book the trip online and pick up a ticket at the train station 30 minutes
before departure?

Do we just pick the cheapest fare? We can commit to departing that day and
that time.

What can go wrong?
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"rvfulltime" wrote in message
...
I'm about to book a one way train trip from London to Edinburgh for May
7th.
I'm using the www.nationalrail.co.uk web site. There seem to be no direct
trains available on this day. And there seems to be a lot of different
fares.

Yes there are a huge and confusing array of fares available. Generally it's
much cheaper to book ahead - but as with the airlines you may be restricted
to certain services and find that penalties apply for changing your booking
or cancellation.

Probably because it's a Sunday - there are often weekend closures and
diversions for engineering work. If you look at the following day there are
direct services.

Have a look a the train operating company's website - www.gner.co.uk -
you'll find that returns are as low as 25 pounds for advance purchase fares.



Regards

David Bennetts
Australia

Do we just pick the cheapest fare? We can commit to departing that day
and that time.
What can go wrong?

I've booked mine from the states and had no problem. I can't think of any
reason not to choose the cheapest fare. Although I was travelling from
Kings Cross, I saw a GNER machine at Gatwick when I flew in and typed in my
confo number to pick up the tickets there well in advance, which eased the
"what can go wrong" thoughts.

rvfulltime wrote:
I'm about to book a one way train trip from London to Edinburgh for
May 7th. I'm using the www.nationalrail.co.uk web site. There
seem to be no direct trains available on this day.

It often happens in Britain that engineering works on the track at
weekends cause delays and diversions. That is why there are no direct
trains on Sunday May 7th, and a change will need to be made at York,
adding about at least an hour to the usual journey time. For more
details, go to
http://www.gner.co.uk/GNER/Traintime...ns/default.htm
and enter May 7th. If you can change your schedule to travel to
Edinburgh mid-week, or at any rate Monday-Friday, you would have an
easier, quicker (typically under 4 hr 30 min) and more reliable journey.

And there seems to be a lot of different fares.

Yes! If you click on each fare type, you can read the different
conditions that apply, e.g. whether the booking can be amended.

This is our first time on a UK train trip. So we're looking for
some tips.

Do we just book the trip online and pick up a ticket at the train
station 30 minutes before departure?

I think that's best if you don't have a UK address at present.

Do we just pick the cheapest fare? We can commit to departing that
day and that time.

Yes, choose the cheapest that fits your requirement. At weekends there
are often some good deals for 1st class, at not much more than Standard
class fares. That would give you more room and possibly better on-board
service. Return fares are usually much better value than single
(one-way) fares.

The National Rail site will ask you to choose a ticket vendor. You
should choose GNER, who are the train operating company who will be
operating your train. Generally considered to be one of the best in the
UK.

What can go wrong?

The most likely problem would be delays at the weekend, because they are
operating an unfamiliar timetable along non-standard routes. On-board
services might be restricted too.

--
Richard J.
www.stayparis.net

Best advice I can give as a Canadian who travelled fairly often on the
the "virgin" part of the system is that when the train says it leaves
at 3.02 they mean 3.02
The other thing is you will hear Britons all complaining how bad the
trains are- from my experience- compared to Amtrak and VIA/CN Rail-
they are just bloody fabulous, inexpensive, frequent and usually very
comfortable

Cheers

ss

On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 16:17:56 -0600, rvfulltime
wrote:

I'm about to book a one way train trip from London to Edinburgh for May 7th.
I'm using the www.nationalrail.co.uk web site. There seem to be no direct
trains available on this day. And there seems to be a lot of different fares.


Something is amiss if the site is showing that: there is a train once
an hour for most of the day, though other respondents have established
that there are engineering works disrupting the service on that day..
Direct trains go from Kings Cross station in London: are you possibly
putting in a different London station for the starting point? Try
also looking at the timetables for this particular train operator at
http://www.gner.co.uk/

This is our first time on a UK train trip. So we're looking for some tips.

Do we just book the trip online and pick up a ticket at the train station 30 minutes
before departure?


That's probably easiest - you can pick up from fast-ticket machines at
the station

Do we just pick the cheapest fare? We can commit to departing that day and
that time.


Yes - that's the principal constraint of choosing the cheapest fare

What can go wrong?

It might take longer to get to Kings Cross from your starting point in
London than you expected. Kings Cross itself is part of a *big*
complex including both Kings Cross and St Pancras national rail
stations: make sure you go to the main station where the trains to
Edinburgh leave. You might have difficulties using a non-UK credit
card for booking online. There are a number of different operators
who can sell tickets - in theory they should all sell the same tickets
at the same price

Of course there are all sorts of reasons why the train might be
delayed, but those aren't your problem

Martin

Martin Rich wrote:
On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 16:17:56 -0600, rvfulltime
wrote:

I'm about to book a one way train trip from London to Edinburgh
for May 7th.
I'm using the www.nationalrail.co.uk web site. There seem to be
no direct
trains available on this day. And there seems to be a lot of
different fares.


Something is amiss if the site is showing that: there is a train
once an hour for most of the day, though other respondents have
established that there are engineering works disrupting the service
on that day..
Direct trains go from Kings Cross station in London: are you
possibly putting in a different London station for the starting
point? Try also looking at the timetables for this particular
train operator at http://www.gner.co.uk/

Nothing is amiss except your reluctance to check such things yourself.
We've already established why there are no direct trains from London to
Edinburgh that day.

--
Richard J.
www.stayparis.net

http://www.seat61.com/UKtravel.htm

"yeosmyth" wrote in message
ups.com...
Best advice I can give as a Canadian who travelled fairly often on the
the "virgin" part of the system is that when the train says it leaves
at 3.02 they mean 3.02

LOL

Whilst you may be used to something else.
Why do you think it might actually means something else?

tim

"Richard J." wrote in message
. uk...
Martin Rich wrote:
On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 16:17:56 -0600, rvfulltime
wrote:

I'm about to book a one way train trip from London to Edinburgh
for May 7th.
I'm using the www.nationalrail.co.uk web site. There seem to be
no direct
trains available on this day. And there seems to be a lot of
different fares.


Something is amiss if the site is showing that: there is a train
once an hour for most of the day, though other respondents have
established that there are engineering works disrupting the service
on that day..
Direct trains go from Kings Cross station in London: are you
possibly putting in a different London station for the starting
point? Try also looking at the timetables for this particular
train operator at http://www.gner.co.uk/

Nothing is amiss except your reluctance to check such things yourself.
We've already established why there are no direct trains from London to
Edinburgh that day.

Actually we haven't really.

Why on earth should engineering works at Darlo, some 50 miles
north of York, mean that pax for Edinburgh need to change there.
Most odd.

tim